Nerd Culture

Star Wars at Disney is pretty cool as is. They have such attractions as an updated Star Tours and The Jedi Training Academy stage show. There is also Star Wars Weekends, where Hollywood Studios is transformed into a Star Wars themed park, almost during these weeks All of that, however, is nothing compared to what Disney has planned for its all-Star Wars Park expansion. Construction has been underway for under a year and along the way Disney has teased the park with concept art and some official words laying out some of the best key attractions; including a full scale Millennium Falcon, life size ATATs, and cantinas where robots, aliens and rebel scum are abound. Cool, right? Well, according to revealings from Star Wars Celebration, the park is going to be far cooler than anyone could have possibly imagined. How cool? Well it’s not exactly Westworld but it’s pretty darn close. A park where your decisions have consequences! Oh, and Lucasfilm has announced that the Star Wars-themed land coming to Disney parks in California and Florida will officially become part of the canon. (more…)

For generations, Disney‘s theme parks have been making the magic of their movies come alive for children from all over the world. Through rides, parades and interactive adventures, fans of all ages get to live their fairytale dreams. The company will even get involved if you’re truly committed to giving someone special the Disney princess treatment. You get your chance to meet your favourite characters in real life – provided that your character is human and that the theme park has access to an actor who resembles closely enough to get away with playing them on a daily basis. (more…)

Those of us who are Harry Potter nerds through and through have often fantasized about kicking back after a long day with a Butterbeer, the drink of choice of many witches and wizards of our general age. It is especially difficult for those of us who have yet to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Florida.

While it is firmly established that the events of every Star Wars movie that will ever be made occur a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, that has not stopped – and likely never will – generation after generation of nerds from dreaming about exploring that distant star system. Now that the film series is approaching the double figure mark, the fans may finally have an opportunity to do just that. Or something close. Soon. Disney is hard at work adding a Star Wars themed section to Disneyland, which has been confirmed to be the largest-ever, singled-themed land expansion at the company’s world famous parks. (more…)

Suicide Squad was a lot of things. A good movie, well, maybe not so much. Let’s call its response “divisive”. Its main sin is that it was more style than substance. Good story, a decent plot? Eh, fans were having too much fun to care. Relish did they in the film’s boss soundtrack of classic rock anthems, its youthful edge style (*insert obvious Hot Topic comparison joke*) and the badassery of breakaway characters like Viola Davis’ unapologetic-ally brutal Amander Waller, Margo Robbie’s barb-tongued spitfire Harley Quinn and Will Smith’s “no time for bullshit” Deadshot.

One character, however, that most everyone can have a shared sense disappointment with, was Jared Leto’s Joker. For all intents and purposes, The Joker should have stolen the show (mostly by his outrageous and destructive method acting), but he instead barely registers. And what a shame. Leto’s Joker deserved better. Despite being as far removed from the character as one can get, and amid all of the messiness, were moments of greatness, and that’s a category that Jared Leto and his Clown Prince of Crime fit perfectly into.

Ultimately, The Joker’s screen time, all of seven minutes, was too less to conclude whether it was good or bad. But, Leto was intriguing enough to leave a lasting impression, earning himself a respectable fan base. Fans, that are demanding a #JokerCut of Suicide Squad, and firm in the belief that if Leto returns as the Joker in a Batman movie, he’ll earn the respect he should have gotten on the first go around. These same fans are keeping SS Joker merchandise alive – fans that go crazy for items such as this Joker in a Tuxedo 1/6th scale figure from Hot Toys (What a Segway, huh?).

Thanks to our friends over at Sideshow Collectibles, Nerd Bastards was lucky enough to get one for review. Would you like to hear about it? Read more after the jump! (more…)

Netflix, the popular streaming service that has continued to dominate all our free time has been a game changer. In addition to coining the phrase binge-watching, and giving us the perfect way to consume TV and movies from the comfort of our own homes (or on the go), the streaming service has been increasingly delivering Original Programming the same way HBO or any other premiere subscription cable service has, without the need for a cable package. We have such great shows like Orange is the New Black, House of Cards, Stranger Things, and many others. Now, it looks like Netflix will once again change the game for us.

With less than 2 months remaining, fever is growing for Marvel’s next Phase 3 movie, Guardians of The Galaxy Vol 2. The sequel to the surprise blockbuster is expected to be even bigger, funnier, and have even more classic songs than the first one. Tonight, on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Star-Lord himself, Chris Pratt showed up to debut the third trailer for the upcoming film.

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. A cartoon that ran from 1983-85, which existed solely to promote the exceedingly popular (the most popular even) toy line of the same name. It spawned a corny live-action adaption that starred Dolph Lundgren (who was surely robbed of the Oscar that year) and Frank Langella, as well as young Courtney Cox. The cartoon was rebooted in 2002 but managed to only run 39 episodes. An action figure line from that series was produced, then later a line of mini statues. Another and now a current line of figures are produced by Mattel and sold on their collector’s website. The property is licensed to a number of other vendors as well, such as Funko, Super 7, Entertainment Earth. All of which are finding that the nostalgia for He-Man and The Masters of The Universe is as strong as ever. Out of every outfit capitalizing on the sentimentality felt by children of the 80’s, none are perhaps as hard-core as Sideshow Collectibles. Their line of collectible statues inspired by the popular 80’s cartoon are the earnest of representations, and completely unlike anything that has come before them.

No better show of display, than by checking out the very first in their 1:5 statue series, the one and only He-Man – the most powerful man in the Universe. (more…)

While it might not be the first franchise that springs to mind when you think about expensive collectibles, Underworld has a longevity that is the envy of many a film series. The first movie was released in 2003 and the fifth instalment, Underworld: Blood Wars, came out earlier this year. There is already a sixth movie underway as well as a television series in discussion, and that’s on top of the comic book adaptations and novelisations of the story. People wouldn’t be going to so much effort if there wasn’t a devoted audience out there who loved it. Indeed, there is a tight-knit cult following within nerd culture that lives for the history and culture and brutal, bloody battles in the saga of the lycan and vampire clans. (more…)

Captain Phasma is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise, portrayed by Game Of Thrones’ Gwendoline Christie. Introduced in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), the first film in the latest Star Wars sequel trilogy, Phasma is the commander of the First Order’s force of Stormtroopers, or as most would remember her as – The Silver Surfer… er… Centurion. Now, her induction into the Star Wars universe was intended to make her this generation’s Boba Fett – a quiet, armored, gun-toting, bad-ass. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite turn out that way. Captain Phasma is not the Boba Fett of The Force Awakens: Boba Fett was more useful. She had very little screen time and was last seen being taken prisoner by the film’s heroes who dumped her in a trash compactor, going out like a piece of garbage. Sufficed to say, she did not turn out to be the threat she was promised to be. She was more disappointing than the Wii U. Regardless, she still looked mighty f’n cool, clad in the sweetest chrome armor you’ve ever laid your eyes on, cape fluttering in the wind like it was the star in a John Woo action movie.

For the geeks out there who have a thing for flashy Storm Troopers, or are adorned by having the first female Trooper, or for anyone who hopes to see Phasma return in Episode VIII and totally redeem herself, then consider this 1/6th Captain Phasma figure from Sideshow Collectibles via the makers of Hot Toys. Sideshow was kind enough to send Nerd Bastards a sample for review. Follow along with us as we fill in some descriptive adjectives other than “shiny” and “pew pew pew”. (more…)

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